THE HUMBLE PETITION OF MANY THOVSANDS OF Wives and Matrons of the City of London, and other parts of this kingdom, For the Cessation and final Conclusion of these Civill Wars, And for the restitution and revocation of their HVSBANDS,  
Who have as just cause to complain for the want of them, together with our children and bosom friends, as the Virgins have for losing their Sweet-hearts.  
Presented by divers Gentlewomen of good credit, and Citizens Wives; To the consideration of both HOUSES, On Thursday, the second of February.  Ecce jacent vidus membra sepulta thoro. 
Printed at London for John Cookson. 1643.   

The humble Petition of many thousands of Wives and Matrons, of the City of London, and other parts of this kingdom, for the cessation and final conclusion of these Civill Warres.  
IT was the first act of God Almighties favour, to our first parent in Pa●adise, to ordain him a helper meet for him; namely, a Wife; such as we are, to the number of many thousands, who do hereby present this Petition for the rectifying of our dreadful and increasing griev●nces. First, it is not unknown to the whole kingdom of England, that Wives are the main supporters of the strength and beauty thereof, that Wives are those who people and replenish the Common-wealth with Inhabitants; that Wives are the Mothers of the faithful, and the producers of ●… ll good Subjects. As it is impossible, that fields alone with●… ut corn should bring forth fruit, or that corn should multiply without being cast into good ground: so it is impossible mankind should be continued, or succession maintained without the help of Wives; who bring forth children when they have conceived them in sorrow with much pain and affli●●ion. It is therefore a great deal of j●●●ice tha●●n our ow●e 〈◇〉 and ●●●tressed 〈◇〉 〈…〉 should be heard and our Petition regarded with an indulgent respect since we have so many ties upon all those men who shall read this our Petition, and whom it concerns equally with o●●s●lv●●.  
First we are not ignorant that there hath been a great many malicious and ungracious reports cast upon us Women, as that we should wear the breeches, that our tongues are perpetual larums to disturb the peace and quietness of their rest, that we are cankers in their Estates, consuming them more in new fashions and fooleries, then would maintain an Army against the Malignants; that besides, the Wives of the City are terribly given to the making of monsters, or converting our Husbands into such, by furnishing their fore-heads with large and beautiful horns; all which aspersions we return upon the vile and scandalous Authors, who in the height of their Wine have branded us with these ignominious calumnies, because we would not permit them to lime their twigs at our Plum-trees, nor to inoculate our stocks with their grafts: and attesting against all such misreports, as unprejudiciall to our cause, or any way impeaching this our Petition, which out of the anguish and bitterness of our hearts we are forced to deliver. We the Wives of all sorts, ages and conditions, from the Merchants Wife of fifteen in silk Mochado, to the Apple-wife of fourscore in Canvas; as Ale-wives, Oyster-wives, Fish-wives, Tripe-wives, in all humility showing the greatness of our dolours and sufferings, occasioned by the lament●ble and lasting continuance of these intestine civill wars, where there hath been more proper men slain( which grieves us even beneath the bottoms of our hearts) then would have done a hundred of 〈…〉 good turns, and such turns as would have served our ●… es indeed, and to some purpose, then having been more ●… ns blood  shed in these combats and contentions, then there is left in all our bodies, which is certainly a point of great inhumanity and barbarousness. And whereas before the beginning of these wars, each of us good Wives, either by the due benevolence of our Husbands, or the charitable assistance of our friends, whom we respected in the nature of Husbands, could every year● for the most part bring forth ●… it in due season, without lying idle like Fallow and untilled fields, now heaven have mercy upon us, we walk desolate like widows, with our bellies as flat as Flounders, and empty as crackt-nuts that have lost their kernels: Your common harlots undoing us in the ways of copulation and pr●creation, they in this dearth of mans flesh having some customers and helpers at dead lifts, while we poor souls wander like solitary Turtles without mates; not one man among a hundred, since the departure of the Courtiers and Cavaliers, that in this City hath so much honesty as to ask a married woman the question, or offer his body to her service; and if this be not a lamentable case my Masters, you who have Wives, and so know what belongs to women, be impartial and just Judges. All flesh is frail we know, and we women are the weaker vessels, and so have the fr●iler flesh, and ●re more subject to our failings then men. And is 〈…〉 not a pitiful case, able to make a mans bowels yearn with compassion, that women should out of their frailty fall, and have no man to take them up, except we should be beholding to those who have the palsy in all their joints, decrepid old men, that cannot lift up any part about us, nor stand at all to elevate our dir●ctions for pains and aches: while we in the mean time tyre our souls, and consume the flesh of our bodies with pinings and mental conceptions; such as may call to our remembrance onely to trouble our fancies, the past banquets we used daily and nightly to taste, when as they say we eat sweet meats with spoons and rioted in dainties. But now, woe worth the time I ●●ne● the beginning and continuance of these warres, we have been held to hard meat, sca●ce getting a morsel to satisfy the gripings and hunger of our bellies in three of four dayes▪ nay, not in a week sometimes, and that we are fain to steal or borrow from our neighbours, in an ill hour be it spoken, to such a dearth of men are we reduced, our Husbands who according to the laws of the Jews, were bound to give us due been volence, being engaged and embroiled in these warres, shedding their bloods, and maiming their bodies, to the loss of divers of the best of their members in the hot service, as many of us whose Husbands are returned lame and impotent can speak it by woeful experience.  
And which is a far greater affliction, besides the loss of our Husbands( whom we would have spared with all ou●… hearts, so they had been left us) we are deprived of our dear and delicious friends, who used with such pleasure to solace and recreate our bodies at taverns, and other places, paying for our going in to plays, and installing us in triumph in the half crown boxes, though we often paid for it ourselves, borrowing of our Husbands by engross to supply our friends, who paid our wears and commodities again by retail: By which, though our Husbands were losers, we were sure to be good gainers. And these good Gentlemen, our noble friends, are taken away by the employments of those civill warres, and in our places supply the necessities of ●armers daughters, and innkeepers, and Parsons wives, that make them lucky to horse-s●e●h. In what a miserable estate and condition are we Wives left then, being not onely deprived of the bodily consolation of our Husbands, but also of our friends, who in stead of dancing the shaking of the sheets, are dancing to the music of the Drums, endangering hou●ely those precious and delectable members so dear to us Wives. Besides this misery and defect, the want of trading lamentably afflicts us Oyster-wives, Apple-wives, ●… ipe-wives, nay, the very Ale-wives, that had wont so ●… ommonly, and to every Chapman and Passenger to sell off ●… heir wears, having now no vent for their commodities, un●… they will put them off upon trust, and score up all their ●… ere, Ale, and Cakes: so that Wives of all sorts and occupations have reason to lament and complain of the continu●… of these warres, which have brought them so many and 〈…〉 ●illing afflictions, which makes all the parts and every ●… icle of our bodies tremble with fear, and amazement 〈…〉 behold the still increasing to●rent of our miseries; which ●… ither tongue can express, no● pen dec●pher; for we are 〈…〉 onely in daily jealousies of ou● Husbands not returning 〈…〉 us, but also of their being slain in the warres, whereby we 〈…〉 made unable of having hopes to propagate or fruc●isie ●… he earth with children lawfully begotten, and so posterity ●… ust cease, and the City, town and country be left deso●…: Besides, we are fearful if we should lose these Husbands, that we shall not suddenly get new ones; for though we care not much for them, yet we know, according to the old proverb, that seldom comes a better, and therefore we ●… ld gladly rest ourselves contented with these we have, ●… her wishing to wear● our old clothes then to go stark 〈…〉. But surely this taking away of our friends, whom 〈…〉 set in the first place and our Husbands from us, was a just ●… gement of Heaven upon us for our sins and iniquities; 〈…〉 before, when each of us had a loving and kind husband ●… r laid leg over woman, we were not contented with ●… m, but still desired change, divers of us, having a friend, ●… wo or three in a corner besides, and so hath happened to us as 〈…〉 covetous wretches, who striving to increase their state, 〈…〉 all they had before, we poor distressed Wives this could ●… ther lying alone in our beds, without the warm touches ●… d embraces of any man to comfort us.  
In consideration of all which grievances and oppressio●… which fall daily and nightly upon us, we the good wives a●… bad wives, chased and unchaste, Scolds and Turtle-dov●… being to the number of at least three millions of bodi●… throughout the whole kingdom, most humbly entreat, a●… with tears in our eyes beseech that an end may be s●dd●… put to these bloody and desperate civill warres, wherein 〈…〉 much blood hath been  shed, to the terror of all Christi●… people, especially of us weak and tender-hearted wom●… that we may no longer lie alone in our b●ds, but have 〈…〉 husbands restored to us, to the solace and consolation of 〈…〉 bodies and souls, that we may again bring forth child●… every year to increase the number of the Kings liege peop●… and faithful Subjects. And we as in all d●●y bound 〈…〉 ever pray, &c.  
FINIS.